Apparatus for placing and assembling folded sheets of paper on a conveying means



R. HEPP 2,891,790

SHEETS OF PAPER ON A CONVEYING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor:

APPARATUS FOR PLACING AND ASSEMBLING FOLDED June 23, 1959 Filed Aug. 8, 1956 June 23, 1959 HEPP 2,891,790

APPARATUS FOR PLACING AND ASSEMBLING FOLDED SHEETS OF PAPER ON A CONVEYING MEANS Fild Aug. 8, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 23, 1959 R. HEPP 2,891,790

APPARATUS FOR PLACING AND ASSEMBLING FOLDED SHEETS OF PAPER ON A CONVEYING MEANS Filed Aug. 8, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 APPARATUS FOR PLACING AND ASSEMBIJING FOLDED SHEETS OF PAPER ON A CONVEYING MEANS Rudolf Hepp, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany Application August 8, 1956, Serial No. 602,738

4 Claims. (Cl. 270-55) The present invention relates to an apparatus for placing and assembling folded sheets of paper on a consheets of paper from a plurality of piles and delivering them to a common, conveying and assembling means for purposes of further treatment of the sheets of paper thus assembled upon or each other to form booklets fandthe like. 1 Such devices are constructed so as to constitute one unit with the conveyor. As a rule, the principal operations are controlled for all stations together. At times the number of piles can be increased byadding another unit handling several piles, but this in turn will form one unit with its conveyor. Thus, for example, a block comprising four stations handled by one machine may be supplemented byan additional block comprising for example six stations.

According to the invention, self-contained units are employed, served by at least one or a plurality of piles of sheets of paper and operating independently of each other. These units are distinguished by being capable of variation, in .both spatial and temporal sequence of operation, quite independently of the other components of the system, namely the common conveyor, the other placement units, and so forth.

7 Independent unit-control, in particular when single piles are used, has the advantage that the piles can each be accurately adjusted to prevailing operating conditions without regard to neighboring stations.

'j Spatial adaptation of the placement units may be supplemented, according to the invention, by optional displacement of such units along a common support, and hence along the conveyor.

Preferably, the mechanical transmissions of the placement units are provided with components such as friction clutches, jaw clutches and the like, adjustable independently of each other, by means of which the time of placing an opened sheet of paper on the conveyor can be varied. This is highly effective in achieving accurate placement of a sheet on the conveyor and accurate assembly of a plurality of sheets.

Further, the mechanical placement means may be provided with members for opening the sheets of paper over the conveyor and adjustable relative to the conveyor. These may be grippers, pushers, suction devices, pins and the like instruments. Preferably, the distance between these members and the conveyor may be variable in all directions by means of a pivoting arrangement. The said members may thus be pivotable away from the conveyor zfar enough so that the corresponding section of the conveyor becomes accessible for placement by hand. The said members and a feeding device supplying sheets of 1 United. States Patent 2,891,790 Patented June 23, 1959 paper to them may advantageously be accommodated in a pedestal, the weight of the said members and feeding device being supported by spring action so that the pivoting arrangement can be actuated with small expenditure of effort. The operating position of the pivoting arrangement may be capable of adjustment and resetting even during operation. Also, the pedestal may be slidable, pivotable and fixable by adjusting means on a base. These procedures may likewise be made possible during operation.

Preferably, an acute angle may be provided between centerlines of the members serving to open the sheets of paper and the conveyor, which angle may of course likewise be variable. This causes the paper sheet, when dropped on the conveyor, to execute a rotation corresponding to that angle, as well as a spinning motion if desired. This helps ensure proper placement and diminish rebound.

The same advantages are gained if the opened sheet of paper is set at an acute angle to the conveyor by means of a universally pivotable and slidable stop over the conveyor. The stop may preferably be interchangeable with stops of different shape. Alternatively, the stop may be so arranged as to impart a lateral rotation to the opened sheet of paper as soon as it 'drops against the stop.

The device according to the invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it should be understood that these are given by way of illustration and not of limitation and that many changes in the details may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows a schematic side View of two placement units cooperating on a common assembly belt;

Fig. 1a shows an end view of a placement unit in two positions;

Fig. 1b is a cross-section of the assembly belt according to the invention.

Fig. 1c shows the articulated sections and coupling device according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic top view of three stations occupied by placement units cooperating on a common assembly belt and driven by a common shaft; 7

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the base of a placement unit;

Fig. 4 shows a detail of the arrangement according to Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 shows an elevation, in partial section, projected at-right angles to Fig. 3.

Referring now to Fig. 1, an opened'sheet drops onan assembly means preferably comprising an endless assembly belt 65 with an inverted-V cross section, equipped with pushers 66. It is known that such a belt may be used for placement of open sheets thereupon manually or by mechanical means, several sheets being placed side by side simultaneously if desired. As shown in Fig. 1b, 66 is the pusher which is additionally provided on the left and right sides at the assembly belt 65 and which serves the purpose of transporting the material. Such pushers are known and are in general use. The belt is supported by a fiat iron piece 66a.

As shown in Fig. 10 at 70, the coupling is of lamellar friction type construction. To its left, (in this figure) there is arranged a hand wheel 70a. This hand wheel serves to switch the coupling on and off. Again left of the hand wheel there is provided the knuckle joint of customary construction which permits the shaft segments to be positioned at a certain angle to each other. At the right of coupling 70, there is shown a belt wheel, which activates belt 71. The device provided by this invention, however, makes it possible to set up single placement units A and B in any relationship to each other, equipped with piles of sheets 67 and 68 respectively, while additional sheets may be placed manually between the stations at 69. The several stations may be so arranged as to be optionally slidable along the assembly belt 65. As indicated in Fig. l, the several units may be driven by a common transmission shaft 0. This shaft is made in articulated sections. Each unit may be connected to the common shaft by a clutch 70, so that the time of placement of an opened sheet of paper on the conveyor belt 65 can be varied. Thus after disengagement of any clutch 7t), the position of the corresponding unit in relation to the common shaft 0, and hence also to the assembly belt 65, can be readjusted. Members M are provided for opening the paper sheets. A mechanism N serves to feed the sheets of paper from a pile 67 or 68 to the members M.

Members M and mechanism N are more fully described hereinbelow.

Placement units A or B are illustrated in greater detail in Fig. 2. A pile of folded or unfolded paper sheets 1 rests on a revolving member 2 which substantially consists of supporting rollers 3 and suction rollers 4. The rollers rotate around a common axis 5. Adjustable stops 6 and 7 support the paper sheets so that they maintain the desired position on carrier member 2 which rotates in the direction of the arrow. The edge of the bottom sheet of paper is seized by the suction roller 4 and transferred to a stationary gripping means 8, more particularly at the moment when the edge of the paper, after rotation of suction roller 4, appears at the circumference of the rotating carrier member 2. The suction rollers 4 and the supporting rollers 3 rotate in the directions shown by arrows.

The gripping means 8 holds the edge of the sheet until the sheet has been reversed by the elements provided therefor on the carrier member 2. The sheet then lies between the rotating carrier member 2 on the one side and a set of brushes 2%) on the other.

Stripping means 23 are provided for detaching the sheet from the revolving member 2. The sheet is brought between a pair of rollers 28 and 29, forming the previously mentioned opening mechanism M. The rollers spread the paper either by suction or by other means.

The placement unit with its component parts and their interaction for feeding and opening sheets of paper is fully described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 467,137.

The unit generally designated by N, is pivotally mounted in a base 75 by means of a supporting arm '71. It can thus be moved into the position indicated by dotted lines, leaving the assembly belt 65 accessible for manual placement of paper.

Referring next to Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the pivoted arm 71 of the unit N is provided with a spring 72 engaging a pin 73 to counterbalance the weight of the unit N when swung into operative position. The pin is stopped by a. set screw 74 so that the distance between the arm 71 and the assembly belt may be adjusted during operation.

The base 75 of the unit can be shifted on a bed 76 by means of a screw 77 which turns in a bearing 78 and in a nut 79 locked against rotation. By turning the screw 77, the base 75 can be shifted in either direction of the double arrow 75a (in Fig. 3), thus an adjustment can be made, in turn, of the exact placement of the sheet on the assembly belt 65 during operation.

The base 75 may be clamped to the bed 76 by means of a set screw 80, which also keeps the unit from overturning.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for feeding, opening and collecting folded sheets of paper from a plurality of piles of paper and delivering said sheets to another working station, said apparatus comprising a conveyor means, selfcontained units corresponding to each pile and provided with feeding and opening means for the paper sheets, each of said units being individually operable, mounting means for each unit for placing the same in a position for dropping said sheets on said conveyor means at a desired location thereon, said mounting means comprising a supporting arm, base member means for pivotally arranging said arm in said base member, whereby each unit is adjustable with respect to said conveyor means and to said other of the plurality of units, and a divided articulated common transmission shaft for driving said plurality of units.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein holding means are provided for fixing said supporting arm of said unit in an angular adjusted position with respect to said conveyor, said holding means including a pin and spring means, which spring means is simultaneously operative in counterbalancing the weight of. the self-contained sheet dropping unit.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the holding means includes a stop member for engagement with said pin and spring in an adjusted position of said supporting arm.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein individual clutch means are provided for attaching and detaching each unit to said transmission shaft, as desired.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,586,196 Halvorsen May 25, 1926 2,020,321 Kleineberg Nov. 12, 1935 2,025,527 Schramm Dec. 24, 1935 2,253,556 Christensen Aug. 26, 1941 2,279,270 Tornberg Apr. 7, 1942 2,425,936 Hepp Aug. 19, 1947 

